1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a supporting structure for a battery in a vehicle including an electric motor that receives electric power from the battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Saddle-type electric vehicles, which have electric motors that drive rear wheels as drive wheels, have been developed. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-18270 described below discloses an electric two-wheel vehicle as an example of the saddle-type electric vehicles. The vehicle described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-18270 includes a battery, which supplies electric power to the electric motor, between right and left frames extending rearward and downward from the head pipe. The battery is detachable upward from between the right and left frames so that the battery is charged in a state of being detached from the vehicle.
Saddle-type electric vehicles including, for example, electric two-wheel vehicles, sometimes shake largely in an up and down direction when the vehicles travel. When a battery shakes relative to the vehicle body in the up and down direction as a vehicle travels, the shaking of the battery can be transmitted to the rider and worsen comfort in riding the vehicle. Fixing the battery to the vehicle body by, for example, bolts, can prevent the battery from shaking relative to the vehicle body. However, fixing the battery to the vehicle body complicates a work of removing the battery from the vehicle body for charging the battery and would induce shocks applied to the battery when the vehicle travels.